3.1 The purpose of the preliminary brainstorming activity is to establish a set of Hazard Categories and Issues that can be later used to guide the full brainstorming activity. Typically the Moderator of the brainstorm group can undertake the preliminary brainstorm on their own or with the help of others e.g. a Safety Analyst. This activity should take place before the full brainstorm.
3.2 Input to the preliminary brainstorm can be historical hazard data on similar systems e.g. incident / accident databases, reporting schemes or hazard logs.
3.3 The output of the preliminary brainstorm should be a list of hazard categories and issues, typically:
a) Operational Aspects. b) Technical Aspects.
c) Potential Conflicts: departures; taxiways. d) Flight Phases.
3.4 Since the preliminary brainstorming activity is a one or two person exercise, and the purpose of it is not to produce any detail, the conduct of the exercise can be left to the choice of the participants. The guidance that follows for full brainstorming does not necessarily apply to the preliminary brainstorm.
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Preparation for Full Brainstorming
4.1 Participants
4.1.1 The number of participants at a brainstorming session should be limited to a maximum of 6 people. More than this becomes unproductive and special arrangements should be made to regain some efficiency:
a) Dividing the larger group up into working pairs;
b) Participants undertaking individual note taking followed by group discussion of the findings of each person.
4.2 Participants with Administrative Roles
4.2.1 All participants take part in the brainstorming ideas generation activities, however some participants also have an administrative role:
a) Moderator: Controls the flow and timing of the meeting; states the rules of conduct and introduces material and hazard categories to consider. The principle goal of the moderator is to ensure the brainstorming activity is productive;
b) Safety Analyst: Should be familiar with hazard, cause and effect and help the group with safety terminology and structuring the record of hazards;
c) Note Taker: Somebody noting down the detail of the hazards; this may be on a laptop PC connected to a projector so that the participants can correct any misunderstandings (however the correction of notes should take a lower priority than the generation of ideas);
d) Operation/System Expert: This should be somebody familiar with the planned project such that they can answer any clarification questions about the project by participants. Typically this may be the Project Manager, Senior Air Traffic Controller
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Appendix A Page 4 or Senior Systems Engineer. They would normally present the project overview at the beginning of the session.
NOTE: The Moderator and Safety Analyst may be the same person. The Note Taker may be
the Safety Analyst (where not also the Moderator) thus enabling the definition of hazards using correct safety terminology.
4.3 Creative Participants
4.3.1 The above participants have an administrative role to play in the brainstorming process. However the principle role of the remaining participants is to creatively identify hazards with the planned system or project. Key to this is the inclusion of Operational Staff:
a) Air Traffic Controller: Where possible this person should not be familiar with the planned project prior to the brainstorming session, but should be familiar with the type of ATC functions planned to be performed e.g. approach control, area control etc.
b) Pilot: Where possible this person should not be familiar with the planned project prior to the brainstorming session, but should be familiar with the types of aircraft and operations that may be involved in the planned project.
c) Relevant Aerodrome Personnel: Where possible this person should not be familiar with the planned project prior to the brainstorming session.
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Preparing a Brainstorming Session
5.1 Session Logistics
5.1.1 Brainstorming sessions can be taxing on participants, therefore the following should be considered when arranging the logistics of a session:
a) A meeting room protected from distractions e.g. no calls to be taken.
b) The preparation of a meeting schedule that divides the allocated time up into manageable chucks with frequent refreshment breaks e.g. several half hour sessions split by 10 minute breaks.
NOTE: Participants are normally more pro-active in morning sessions than afternoon
sessions.
c) Easy availability of refreshments.
5.2 Introductory Brainstorming Presentation
5.2.1 Some participants to a brainstorming session may not be familiar with the process or what is expected of them. It is therefore important to explain this, ideally in the form of a short presentation covering:
a) Definition of a hazard.
b) How the brainstorm will be managed i.e. the rules: • No contradiction or dismissals allowed.
• How participants should inform the group of their hazard ideas e.g. open free-for-all discussion; notes on post-its to be stuck on a board; hands raised awaiting moderator attention.
NOTE: Participants are advised to have notepaper and pens to jot down hazards as they
occur to them just in case hazards start 'queuing' to be discussed or recorded.
5.2.2 The Moderator would normally undertake the above presentation lasting no longer than 10 minutes.
5.3 Project or System Presentation
5.3.1 The brainstorm participants need material to work off, therefore an overview of the project should be presented:
a) This should last no longer than half an hour. b) It should not be very detailed, but typically cover:
• The objective of the project.
• Concept of Operation e.g. Airspace Configuration and Interfaces; Aerodrome Layout; traffic characteristics; timeframe.
• Human Roles (from an ATC, Pilot or Aerodrome Personnel point of view). • Policies and Procedures.
• Technical Systems.
c) It should be biased towards pictures and diagrams.
NOTE: The pictures and diagrams e.g. airport layout, airways structure and charts, should
be made into posters and stuck around the room where the brainstorming activity takes place to promote their constant consideration and easy reference.
5.3.2 The Operation/System Expert would normally undertake the above presentation.
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Conduct of the Brainstorming Session
6.1 After the Introductory Brainstorming Presentation and the Project or System Presentation (see above) have been delivered, the Moderator would take control of proceedings by directing the group to consider the hazard categories and issues previously identified at the preliminary brainstorming stage.
6.2 All participants would explore each of the categories and issues and feel free to raise any safety related issues that occur to them. Hazards raised should be quickly noted down on a flipchart to be discussed and expanded further (although not analysed in detail at this stage).
6.3 The Safety Analyst would help formulate any identified Hazards into appropriate wording and the Note Taker would ensure that these are correctly recorded.
6.4 If using a laptop PC and projector, the note taker can ensure that the correct understanding of the hazard as raised by the participant has been recorded.
6.5 This continues, according to the planned schedule, until all the categories and issues identified from the preliminary brainstorm have been exhausted. However, if during the brainstorm activity, further issues and general hazard categories have been identified in addition to those identified during the preliminary work, then these should be explored until exhausted.
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After the Brainstorming Session
7.1 The minutes or notes of the brainstorming session, which should be sectioned into the hazard categories raised at the meeting, should be supplied to the participants within a few days for error checking.
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Appendix A Page 6 7.2 The results of the Hazard Identification process should be reviewed and a judgement
made as to the how successful the process has been. If, for example, it appears that a particular hazard category has not raised the expected number of hazards, then consideration should be given to arranging further brainstorming sessions (in the lifecycle of a project, there may already be several iterations of Hazard Identification planned providing the opportunity to focus up on any particular issue at a later stage). 7.3 The hazards identified from the Brainstorming Session, together with other Hazards
identified by other methods feed in to the next steps of the Hazard Analysis process to ascertain the severity and likelihood of their consequences.
7.4 The hazards identified from the Brainstorming Session should be entered in the Hazard Log where this is being maintained (see Appendix F).
NOTE: The brainstorming group may consist of the same team conducting the risk
assessment; therefore the group may allocate initial severity and likelihood information to the hazard consequences immediately after the brainstorming process to aid the later assessment.